Physical abuse: Physical maltreatment, injury, or damage to a person.

Sexual abuse: Contacts and interactions between a child under 18 and an adult in which the child is being used   for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or another person. Or, coercive or non-consenting sexual acts between adults, especially when one is in a position to have power over the other, such as minister - church member, teacher - student, therapist - client, or employer - employee.

Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

Mental abuse: Verbal or other behavior causing damage to mental, emotional or spiritual health.

Physical or sexual abuse of a minor must be reported to law enforcement or child protective agency.

Abuse Statistics:

• 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will be sexually abused by age 18.

• 3,000,000 cases of child abuse are reported each year.

• While the average age of children in all child-abuse reports is 7.2, the average age of fatalities from child abuse is 2.6.

• Males are 11 times more likely than females to he molested out of the home.

• 2000 to 4000 women are beaten to death annually.

• 25% of all women's suicide attempts are preceded by a prior history of battering.

• More than 50% of all married women will be assaulted at least once during their marriage.

• More than 33% of women will be repeatedly assaulted during their marriage.

• In 75% of the states in this country, it is legal for husbands to rape their wives.

• A person is raped every 6 minutes.

• Every 15 seconds, a woman is battered.

• 2 to 4 million women are physically abused in the U.S. each year.

• 28% of all female murder victims were slain by their husbands or boyfriends.

• Family violence kills as many women every 5 years as the total number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

• Between 15 to 25% of pregnant women are battered.

• In home where spousal abuse occurs, children are abused at a rate of 1,500% higher than the national average.

• 1/2 of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.

• As much as 10 times as many rapes occur as are reported.

• 1 in 3 women under the age of fifty can expect to be raped in her lifetime.

• 1/2 of all rapes are acquaintance rape. 1/2 of all rapes involve a victims, a perpetrator, or both who are teenagers.

• 70% of men who are abusive were abused as children.

• 4 children die everyday from neglect or abuse.

• Every religious denomination has abuse problems to deal with.

There are many documented cases of abuse within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
30% of women in one Seventh-day Adventist Church have been abused.
50% of girls at one area Seventh-day Adventist youth camp revealed they had been abused by a father or relative.

Percentage of those responding to the Southeastern California Conference of SDA Survey who have experienced family crises:

24% have been divorced or permanently separated.
30% were physically abused at home before age 18.
16% experienced incest at home before age 18.
13% have abused drugs or alcohol.
37% have lived with a drug or alcohol abuser.
7% have attempted suicide.
35% know someone who is HIV positive or had MDS.
27% have had suicidal inclinations.
45% have a close friend or relative who is homosexual.
3% are or have been practicing homosexuals.

W.A.S.H. Recommendations:

Recommendations to the Association of Adventist Women
Recommendations to the North American Division (NAD)
Recommendations to the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference
Recommendations to the Adventist Review
Recommendations to Seventh-day Adventist Church Members

This page last updated on Sunday January 29, 2006 11:10 AM

Disclaimer: We are not a counselling service.  We prepare materials to help church
members and church leaders better understand the problems abuse brings and prevention methods.

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